Make No Little Plans: The Big Shoulders Fund Schools Plan Their Future Chicago

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August 18 – November 15, 2009

2009 marked the centennial of Daniel Burnham’s plan for the City of Chicago, the results of which included North Michigan Avenue, Wacker Drive, lakefront parks, and regional forest preserves. Earlier in 2009, the Burnham Plan Centennial Committee kicked off a region-wide celebration of Burnham’s vision. One group to embrace this celebration was the Big Shoulders Fund, whose mission is to provide support to the Catholic schools in the neediest areas of Chicago. Seventy-seven schools were each assigned a Chicago neighborhood that was not their own. Fifth-grade students then researched and reported on their assigned neighborhood, highlighting its history, current situation, and visions for the future. They also completed a map of each neighborhood. On exhibit were maps of just over half of Chicago’s seventy-seven neighborhoods, along with some of the students’ research.